Birthday Boy - Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san
by Karakoi
Summary: As Takagi and Nishikata walk home together from school one afternoon, she surprisingly asks about his upcoming birthday, his taste in presents, and people who are coming to his party. With her showing so much interest in his birthday party, nothing more surprises him then what she says next.
1. Chapter 1

Birthday Boy - Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-San

"COCK-A-DOODLE DOO!"

Nishikata awakes, his eyes with eyebags under them, mostly because he stayed up watching pre-recorded 100% Requited Love episodes for about two hours last night. The small chicken alarm continues barking out an annoying order to get out of bed, but eventually, Nishikata slaps it on the head to stop the noise. He groans, steps out of bed, and walks to his wardrobe. He grabs out his normal school uniform, a sort of business shirt, and some jeans. He lays them on his bed, and scavenges the clean wardrobe for his leather belt. Finally, he feels something on the ground, a rough material that would only refer to one thing. He grabs his belt firmly and chucks it onto his bed. He slides the wardrobe door close and, before you know it, he's outside his bedroom with his clothes on. He scurries downstairs, resting his body on the handrail that's beside the set of stairs, and trudges over to the kitchen counter. He opens up multiple cabinets, in subsequent order, and doesn't find anything until tugging on the last one to the right. He then grabs a small cardboard box with an anime design printed on, then shakes it, to reveal there is a flood of flaky pieces inside. He holds onto the box of cereal and shakes it. He sighs, dreadfully, and throws it onto the wooden table near him, and then looks for a bowl. He discovers one that's on a hook and hurries over with it to the bench and places it there. Nishikata holds up the cereal, to find a message on a white note stuck to the box. He opens his eyes fully, for the time being, and his eyes follow the words that are written on there.

'Hey, honey! I'm out at the moment, at the mall, so I hope you can look after yourself! You've done this many times, so you know the routine! You'll be gone, anyways, before I get home. So, I'll see you after school, okay? XOX, Mum.'

Nishikata sheds a small tear at the 'XOX' part and stuffs the note in is pocket. He then glimpses out of the window above the sink. His eyes adjust, and without his terrible attitude, he smiles. Until he notices the clock on the wall saying 7:58. He shoves all the cornflakes out of the box into his dish, and to his realization, he figures out what is required.  
 _Spoon.  
_ He hurries to the cabinets once more and grabs a metal spoon, his feet pounce of the ground to form a sprint and runs over to the table. He gulps the patch of corn flakes down his throat, without milk.

 _AGHH! My mouth... is hurts so much! I need milk- wait, no! Who cares! I've gotta hurry!_

He keeps chugging it down and somehow finishes the worst breakfast of his life, then paces up the staircase towards his room and steals his black suitcase from the floor, and he guides himself back down again to the living room and slides to his collection of shoes. He doesn't take time to decide which pair to take, and he grasps a random pair of black shoes and slits them on his feet. He clasps onto the front doors' handle and turns it clockwise. He tugs on it and jogs outside, and shuts the door, locking it. He runs down the road, taking the various directions he usually takes to get to the school. He glances at his arm to find no watch what-so-ever.

 _CRAP! My watch!_

He immediately stops and grips his handbag's handle very hard, almost forgetting it was a school morning. He breathes heavily, feeling overwhelmed by the schedule of everything in the morning. He finds his composure and ends up opening his bag and identifies his phone in the midst of stationary buried in the interior. He snatches the mobile phone and turns it on the second he feels it in his cold hands.

 _Oh, thank god!_

The time displayed only said 8:08, which relieved Nishikata. Briefly. He let his whole body just fall a part for a minute before his eyes close and his mouth breathes out slowly. As he is about to resume his walk to school, Takagi walks around the corner, being behind Nishikata. Seeing Nishikata like this gave her the perfect opportunity. She stumbles forward, her stance getting steady. She hops up, like a bunny, and shouts;  
"BOO!", Takagi yells, breaking Nishikata out of the calm phase he was in.  
"WAH!" Nishikata screams horrifically. It doesn't take a minute for Nishikata to register what had just occured.  
"AH! Takagi-san! What... why?! I was having a perfect little rest that was well earned!" Nishikata starts to mutter, but then sighs again.  
"I didn't know!" She starts to giggle uncontrollably. Nishikata blushes for half a second before talking in a high pitched tone about how annoying and 'bad' that was for him. "I mean, why?!" he starts repeating, but then Takagi stops laughing and answers,  
"Because your reactions are the BEST! They're so funny, and you're open to anything.".  
Nishikata scowls. Everyday, actually everyday, he's had to punish himself for the teasing he has to put up with against Takagi. Nishikata gives some feeble attempts every now and then to get payback on her, but they never work and usually backfire, physically or mentally. While Takagi keeps on the subject about how vulnerable Nishikata is to the teasing, he thinks about a plan to embarrass Takagi.

 _Man, what do I do? Ah, I know, maybe I should try to embarrass her... but how?!_

Takagi boasts even more about the acts of teasing, with Nishikata not even listening to half of it, but one sentence distracts Nishikata and sets back his steps for his plan.  
"Anyone who has you to tease is lucky, for not only teasing, but something else!" Takagi says, obviously trying to give another hint of love to Nishikata. Although he's pretty oblivious most of the time, he knew deep in his heart what that comment meant. But didn't quite understand the context behind it. His cheeks change to a shade of red. "Ah, you're blushing." Takagi replies, waiting for a annoyed rebuttal.  
"What? Oh, it's not what you think..." Nishikata mumbles.  
"So what is it, then?" Takagi asks, in a pleasant tone but with a sneaky face. Her eyes narrow. Nishikata blushes even more.  
"It... it's just HOT!" he claims, then picks up his bag again. "How hot?" she says.  
"VERY HOT! How about we just walk to school?!" he asks frantically. "Sure." Takagi acknowledges.  
Together, they march to their middle school, with Nishikata acting strangely quiet for the rest of the journey.


	2. Chapter 2

Birthday Boy - Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san | Chapter 2

Nishikata and Takagi walk to school, both of them keeping quiet without any questions. Their walk is fast and uncommunicative. As they near the front gates of the school, Nishikata prompts a sentence to break the awkward silence.  
"It's a good morning today, isn't it?" Nishikata starts to say, trying to talk about a separate subject. Takagi stares at him, Nishikata avoiding her smirk. He looks at her, with her replying,  
"It is, isn't it?". Nishikata blushes, the red spreading through his cheeks. "You're blushing." Takagi alerts.  
"I'm not!" he snaps, looking to the opposite side of Takagi. Her smirk disappears. They reach the doors to hear the bell ring it's loud, hard-hitting sound.  
"The bell! We're late." Takagi explains. "Well, yeah. I'm not an airhead." Nishikata guffaws. Takagi then goes to her locker and sticks her 'walking' shoes in there and takes out a pair looking like the same but specified as casual ones. Nishikata strolls up to his classroom and slides open the door to reveal all his classmates at their desks with their current teacher, Tanabe-sensei, overlooking all of them.  
"Gah, Nishikata! You're late again." yells Tanabe.  
"Sorry, sensei!" Nishikata blurted. He sits down in his chair and drops his bag beside his desk. Not too long after, Takagi wanders into the room.  
"You're late too?" Tanabe sneers. "Yes, sorry, sensei." Takagi exclaims.  
"You, and Nishikata, will be cleaning the room at the end of the day." Tanabe demanded. Nishikata thinks about the small comment his horrifying teacher made, and then thinks to himself with a growl-

 _HUH?_

"Alright, now, if everyone's here..." Tanabe declares, with Nishikata dumping his head into his desk, sulking with his arms covering up his annoyance. Takagi notices this and glimpses at him with a bit of a frown. She looks at him for a while, before being told to take out her English translation textbook. Nishikata follows after this, taking out a pencil case and accessing it. He seizes a couple of pencils and a eraser.

 _This is gonna be a LONG day..._

* * *

"DING, DONG!" The school bell's iconic sound shoots itself across the whole town.  
"Don't forget to practice your work at home."  
Nishikata sighs, the fact he needed to stay at school again for cleaning was already annoying, but the fact he was teased 32 times today meant 320 push-ups. Everyone but Nishikata and Takagi were ushered outside by Tanabe, and even when Tanabe was out the door, he screamed from the corridor,  
"DON'T TRY ANYTHING!". Hearing this, Nishikata's back shattered itself with goosebumps. "Are you okay?" Takagi whispers. Nishikata jumps up, his head shaking from fear. "I... how about we just clean up the room?" Nishikata replies. Takagi nods, and they walk over to the broom cabinet. Takagi clutches one of the several brooms in her hands and gets to work instantly, starting on the floor. Nishikata takes out another broom and ends up helping Takagi.

 _Hmm... how can I tease her? There must be something..._

"Hey, Nishikata?" Takagi says. "Yes?" Nishikata answers. "Want to play a game?" Takagi asks.

 _Heheheh! This is how I'll tease her! I'll play along, but I'll mess up the game and embarrass her!_

"What is the game?" Nishikata asks. Takagi then lists the game and the rules.  
"The game is... the Yes-No game. The point of the game is, whoever says Yes or No first will lose. Pretty self-explanatory, right?" Takagi says, her absurd game throwing off Nishikata. "So, we'll play 'till one person gets one point. Fair?" Takagi asks.

 _What is she playing at? This must be a trap!_

"Yeah, that's fair. I guess I'll play then." Nishikata puts his fingers to his chin.

 _There's something not right... but we'll just have to see!_

"Hey, Nishikata?" Takagi interrogates him. "Yes, Takagi-"

 _Oh shoot._

Takagi opens her mouth to say, "HAHA! That was TOO easy! I can't believe you'd fall for that!" Takagi rants, pushing Nishikata over the edge. He pulls down his head to be looking at the ground. He sweeps the bamboo wooden planks and the dust ricochets of to emit into thin air. "Oh, well. Maybe next time you'll win. Any-hoo, how about that punishment..." Takagi begins to say, before Nishikata throws his head up into the air with a blush. "HEY! WHAT?! A PUNISHMENT?! We never discussed that!" he persists arguing with Takagi for about an hour, until the classroom has been cleaned to look as new.  
"Ahhh, finally... I get to go home!" Nishikata says, holding up his bag in front of him, and checking the time on his phone.  
"4:21. Huh." Takagi steps up to him. "Are we gonna walk home, or are we gonna daydream about rest?" Takagi asks.  
"Yeah, let's go." they roam the school grounds, heading towards the locker room. While Takagi is getting changed into her shoes, Nishikata looks outside and coincidentally finds Nakai-kun walking around with Mano-chan. "Hey! Nakai-kun!" Nishikata says. Nishikata rushes outside to talk to Nakai.  
"Hey, Nishikata-kun! Ready for your birthday present?" asks Nakai, suspiciously. "Hah, yeah! Can't wait." Nishikata says.  
"Oh, hi, Mano-chan!" Takagi says, coming up behind Nishikata. "Hi, Takagi-san!". For a moment, they all talk about upcoming events and school. After a few minutes later, they've said their goodbyes, and have gone their own ways. "See ya at the party, Nishikata-kun!" Nakai says, the farewell making Nishikata feel better about the pushup situation. "Yeah, bye!" Nishikata waves, with Takagi saying the same thing.  
"Let's go home." Takagi says, urging him into leaving. "Ah, yes."  
They take their usual route, with Nishikata of course thinking of a master plan to beat Takagi.

 _What do I do? If I beat her, it'll be half the amount of pushups, so..._

"Hey, what was that earlier?" Takagi asks. "What?" Nishikata says.  
"About your 'Party'?" Takagi says. "Well, yea-"

 _THIS IS A TRAP!_

"Wha- what do you mean...?" asks Nishikata, fazed. "You aren't having a birthday party?" says Takagi.  
"N- no..." Nishikata stumbles. "Well, Nakai-kun says otherwise." Takagi replies.  
"HUH?! He told you?!" Nishikata yells. "No, not personally. But it seems you just admitted it." Takagi answers, then she closes one of her eyes and says,  
"Who'd you invite?" Nishikata flinches.

 _Something's not right..._

"Why do you ask that? he questions. Takagi opens her eye and doesn't say anything.  
"W- well, I invited... boys. Nakai-kun, Takao-kun, Kimura... kun." Nishikata sounds extremely fearful.  
"Huh. Well, that's interesting. What is your taste in presents?" Sweat pours down his neck.

 _This has to be the most persistent tease ever._

"I... like videogames. And other stuff..." Nishikata breathes a sigh of relief. "But you'd like the newest issue of 100% Requited Love even more, right?"  
"GAH! Takagi! Don't talk about it in such a civil place!" Nishikata whisper-screams. "It's just a cold street that's inhabited by cats."

 _Too true._

"Err... what are you getting at, Takagi-san?" Takagi looks right into Nishikata's eyes. He blushes at bright as a flame.  
"Hey... can I come to your party?" Takagi asks.

 _..._

Nishikata's blush has enlightened even further, causing his neck to be caught in the blush.  
"You're blushing so much." Nishikata completely colors himself bright pink.  
"No... no... I'm not..." Inside, he's screaming. His voice lost itself, no words were able to be said.

 _What do I do?_

"Um... I-" Nishikata gushes.  
"How about... if you invite me, no more teasing for the time being." Takagi says, prepared for a answer. Nishikata's eyes' pupils scrunch up.  
"Time being? What does that mean?!" Nishikata answers. "Guess you'll just have to find out." Takagi's blush is as precious as Nishikata's reaction to her cruel proposal.  
"I... oh god... I... I..." Nishikata still can't fully answer to any question. Anything he'd like to say was speechless.  
"Ten... nine... eight... seven..." Takagi counts down. "WHAT?! There's a time limit!" Nishikata scrambles for some useful words for this unusual situation.  
"Fin-" Takagi's heart thumps faster than ever.  
"Fine, I'll think about it..." Nishikata looks away, at the sun setting. "Oh... that's not fair." Takagi blushes. It doesn't last, but it's there for Nishikata to visibly see. He looks at the ground, then his eyes follow up to find Takagi eyes meet his. "I-I... yeah, let's just keep walking!" Nishikata's face has blushed to the point where nothing else is there but a slush of red. "Will do." Takagi smiles, a shade of crimson red drawn all over her cheeks with her eyes sparkling.

 _Oh... my... god..._

The rest of their walk is nothing but utter silence. All that is heard is a eerie breeze and the small steps they make. They make it to intersection where they part ways, but by the time they arrived, it was 5:00, and the sun was at the tip of the land, the starry sky reaching over the horizon.  
"W- well... that was weird..." Nishikata starts. "It kind of was. For me." Takagi says. She looks back at him one last time, for the day, then walks away, down the road, her smile larger than before. She looks over her shoulder. "Hey, Nishikata?" Nishikata checks back at her.  
"Huh?" Takagi squints her eyes. "Give me an answer tomorrow, okay?". She gallops down the path happily, her hair crazily waving around in the wind. Nishikata stands there for a minute, the black, dreamy night surrounding everything. The grassy shrubs, houses, and structures being enveloped in darkness.  
Nishikata's eyes widen and his blush leaves. Then it suddenly re-appears, and in his state, is somehow able to say to himself quietly;  
"I'll... I'll take that deal into consideration...".


	3. Chapter 3

Birthday Boy - Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san | Chapter 3

Nishikata cracks open his home's door to find his mum standing in the kitchen, her arms clutching a pot full of Miso soup.

"Ah, you're late. Again." Nishikata rolls his eyes but then says, "Sorry. I had to stay in today for cleaning." The illustrious scent of the liquid was more than enough to just about convince him that what just happened definitely did not occur. Nishikata skips up the steps, entering his room on the second floor. Nishikata slips his suitcase onto the desk, then collapses on the heated carpet. "Contemplation time..." He closes his eyes and imagines, remembers. Back to the moment, when she asked him the death-defying question. Her smile, Takagi's smile, was shimmering in the newborn sun. The glint of the sunlight hitting her eyes, her hair crinkling in the wind. The crackle of her menacing laugh - "Wait, what?" Nishikata shoots straight up, his skin shriveling with goosebumps. "Did I just..."  
The second he stops speaking, a attracting aroma causes him to sniff. A cloud of yellow mist ends up surrounding him in his stuffy bedroom. His pupils narrow, and drooling in love, he staggers down to the first floor, to the kitchen table.

* * *

Takagi bends down over her front doorstep, instantly dropping down on it. She had small puffs of breathing steaming from her exhaling mouth. Her stomach convulsed with pain. Not like she had been injured, but as if she was cheerful. Happy. A twisted, aching bliss that only a person like Takagi would feel. The very sentences she'd said out of no-where must've dumbfounded him. Her thoughts engulf Takagi in deep reflection. She held her soft hands to her chest, expressing guilt and meaningful sighs. The question she asked, in which she persuaded herself to say, was quite rewarding, to say the least. Her celebration would only last so long, especially outside at this time. The wind growls, shivering the trees to a extreme extent. "Ah! Right, I got to go inside!" She stood up and entered her house. Her mother was standing at the kitchen, smirking strangely. "Mother?" Takagi says, breaking the patter of the stove cooking. "Huh? Oh, hi, Takagi!" her smile blanks once again.

"It's your favorite, Teriyaki Chicken Soup!" Takagi plants her gear at the mat of the door, while grinning. Just when she's about to ask about her homework situation, her mother turns from the pot on her stove and then outright asks, "So, how'd it go?" covered in pink, she opens her mouth. Her relentlessness on what she said earlier stops in it's tracks. "I, uh, ye-" she answers. "P- pretty well." Takagi, in a awed manner, starts murmuring curses. "Well, are you so happy that you even ran a mile?" after hearing that, Takagi shakes her head and returns to her bluffing face. She immediately steers herself to her room upstairs. She paces to the door frame of her _real home_. Her bedroom. Decorated with magenta wall paint and cute picturing, and of course, a framed selfie-photo of them both - walking home, on top of the dresser. It really shouldn't have been a surprise that her mum had learnt of her so-called hidden relationship with Nishikata. Even though she knew that Nishikata defended and denied him and her being like a couple several times, fantasizing that way was an option. It wasn't only gonna be a relationship that would last a year. She imagined it being full term. To think she met him over a handkerchief... she'd already knew by first sight that they were a match made in heaven. After all of that drama, could there be anymore evidence he liked her? If he didn't... were they even friends?

* * *

Nishikata bites down on his chicken, obviously enjoying his tasty meal. "Ah, you seem to be liking that chicken." his mother says. Nishikata stirs his Miso melodramatically. "Must be nice. Be sure to wash down your throat with that soup!" she says. Nishikata ignores her request though, and continues to gnaw at the boneless meat. "Well, I guess I can't fault you for not drinking your Miso. Besides..." she pauses for effect. "Takagi's mum did give the platter of chicken to us." Nishikata spits a mouthful onto his plate and begins to nervously sip his drink. "So was the Miso, sadly." his hair goes nuts, as if applied with a rub of a balloon. His crave for a sip, a bite of chicken. Spiteful. Nishikata rubs his eyes and storms towards his room. "Hey, sorry! I was just joking around!" herds of laughter and cries rise from the living room downstairs. Visibly annoyed, he flips the light switch on in his room. He lies down on his bed, thinking about not only his hunger, but the question. Again. His imagination booming with honest to god wonder. Rays of light scar his eyes. Regret fills his brain. He should've said no. But, that would disappoint her. And he most certainly isn't the down type.

 _Why am I feeling this?_

His silent repression is interrupted by pulses from his pocket. He stumbles, and grabs his cellphone. Scrambling to pin point the letters of his password, he precisely checks his notifications. "Ah, probably Nak-" a literal fire alarm starts in his head. It was a text. This caused a headache. Heartache. Discomfort. And for good reason.

 _Takagi._

"So what do you say?" Takagi's end to the message astonished Nishikata. He proof reads the text anxiously, repeatedly. After registering this in mind, he responds. "Tomorrow, please." Nishikata breathes in appreciation. She didn't tease him. For even the smallest detail out of place can be used against you. But even though he was under-estimating Takagi, it was quite well known to him that she was a vicious warrior for speech. But the question... the squawks he'll make when he'll confess his opinion. Will tomorrow be the most differentiated day ever? Even more so now?

* * *

"Wow, deathly wind, eh?" Takagi says, sauntering along the housing with Nishikata. "Well, good morning, I guess." Nishikata tells her.

"Yeah, it sure is, huh?" Takagi waits for a response. "No, I meant-"

"Meant what?" Takagi overlays. "Uh..."

"You seem a little inclined. Are you going to answer my question?" Takagi teases intolerably. "Wh-" Nishikata blushes.

"Wh- what do you mean? Th- the qu- question? Or..." Takagi leers. "Well, yes, or no?"

"Let's just go to school..." Nishikata replies, emphatically. He really didn't want to be apart of her activities.

"You're kidding, right? No such thing can be done!" she scampers ahead, leaving behind a trail of mystery. A never ending nightmare, to him. To her, it's her reason to love her life.

* * *

Although Nishikata always tried to convince Takagi he was impervious to her teasing, but it was hardly a try at deceiving her. Barely. But now, he'd say this was the most appraised tease ever. The entanglement of his situation, the hopefulness of waiting for the end of the day. Endlessly. Maybe curiosity? No, it was the dread, the constant foreshadow of the next action. What was to happen next?

Nishikata sat at his desk emotionless. It was surely a pain in the neck. For at the moment, he was momentarily stunned. What would he tell her?

 _What would **I** tell her?_

His meditation had lasted about as long as the whole day - exceptionally long. Well, sort of. Not really. Nishikata's conscience was failing him. He'd have to face his fears - and scold Takagi with his answer. But as long as he has wits, he should be fine. Right?

* * *

 ** _I'm sorry._**

 _I was bold in claims to bring my content in faster. I wish I could've done something to be better. It was the exams - I had testing on at my high school. It broke me up, but I swear, I'll do proper work now. I'm not dead, and this is certainly not the last chapter. I hope you can accept my apology. There aren't any promises, but I'm kind of betting tomorrow I'll get another chapter up. I hope. And I know this chapter is short.  
When this story ends, I will write more. I'm a big fan of this series! Please let the anime have a season 2!  
Think of it this way: When one door close, another one opens, right?_


End file.
